Tomato Soup

The Continental Cafe

A great dinner in Philadelphia was followed the next morning by a great brunch. My sister had offered a recommendation for brunch as well (Morning Glory) but, in our haste to get on the road and back to Providence, we opted for something only a block or so from our hotel- The Continental.

Approaching the restaurant, all we could see was a giant olive perched atop the sign, but as we got closer we could stare inside at the masses of people crowded inside a trendy, brightly colored restaurant. The restaurant is two levels, both with bars situated at the back. Upstairs, where we sat, there were booths and two tops with swinging chairs! But, not only the decor was great- so was my pumpkin waffle:

The waffle was served with vanilla bean butter and real maple syrup, and it was one of the best waffles I've had in a long time. It was crispy on the outside, and soft and airy on the inside. We all agreed that it was unbelievably light and the pumpkin flavor was perfect. It would have been fun to stay in Philadelphia for another night and see The Continental Martini Bar in its true light...but it was definitely worth a stop for brunch.

Monk's

Recently Andy and I made a one-night trip to Philadelphia for a friends birthday. If you only have one night to eat in Philadelphia, where do you go? We needed something casual, inexpensive, and close to our hotel. So I called my sister in France to ask her. She did her undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania and loves Philadelphia so I knew she would have a good answer- Monk's Belgian Café and Beer Emporium. My sister loves the fries, and her husband thinks their burgers are the best he's ever had- so it seemed like an easy decision. It is quite a popular place. We went at 6 o'clock to grab dinner and there was already a 30-45 minute wait. But the wait was worth it, because I had the best mussels I have ever had:

You can't see the broth in this picture, but it was an amazing mixture of  Hoegaarden, fumè, toasted spicy chile de arbol peppers, chervil & garlic that Monk's calls the "Red Light." It was heavenly and I certainly used the roll provided to mop up as much of the broth as possible. But, the broth didn't outshine the wonderful taste of the briny, succulent mussels.

Alongside my huge pot of mussels was a little basket of little fries with Monk's famous bourbon mayonnaise:

These fries were addicting, and you couldn't help grabbing a bunch between your fingertips and dunking them liberally into the bourbon mayo. And all of this delicious food was only $9.95- a pretty great price for a restaurant in the heart of Philadelphia.

One person in our party did order a burger- and between massive bites he made a couple comments about how good it was, but other than that, I can't confirm that they are the best burgers so I'll just have to trust my brother-in-law on that one- especially because if I ever make it back to Monk's, I'll be ordering this beautiful pot of mussels again!

Top of the Hub

I really love clam chowder, and usually try it whenever it is on the menu. When I was younger, I loved clam chowder, minus the clams, and would pick out all of the clams just to get to the potatoes and the creamy broth. Now I eat both broth and clam, but some bowls are better than others.

A couple weeks ago I went into Boston to celebrate a friends 21st birthday at Top of the Hub. I have been to Top of the Hub once before with my dad and was pleasantly surprised. I think we both expected that the Hub was another gimmick restaurant that lacked greatly in the food department, but made up for it in the astounding view. Thankfully, Top of the Hub does not fit this description and instead their food has great New England flavor and a beautiful view. My experience at Top of the Hub the second time around was as great as the first, and I knew that my meal wouldn't be complete without a bowl of clam chowder:

This is an amazing bowl of chowder. It's creamy, but not too thick- you can see the wonderful bits of clam floating all around the bowl- it's peppery, and garlicky and just perfectly represents the perfect chowder. I even love the peppery crackers that come in place of oyster crackers.

For my main course I had the Spaghettini with braised baby clams, pancetta, and roasted garlic and tomatoes. It was absolutely fantastic and I loved it so much that I tried to recreate it at home during the week. Unfortunately, there is no photo because we were all caught up in celebrating! There's no photo of the beautiful view either, but rest assured that both the view and the Spaghettini are worth a trip to Top of the Hub.

Carmody's

I had less time than I thought to blog while I was in Vermont for graduate school. I had even less time to eat anything tasty- except for a quick meal with Andy before he dropped me off at Carmody's in Bennington, Vermont.

The restaurant was recommended to us by a friendly gas station attendant, and it was just what we were looking for. Something fast, simple, and good.

We started with one of our "most frequently ordered" appetizers, buffalo chicken fingers with ranch dressing:

We had been driving for four hours by this point, and these chicken fingers helped ease our appetite and our complete exhaustion.

Then we both had the Southwestern Turkey Burger with sweet potato fries:

I'm not sure what made this turkey burger "southwestern" except for some spicy seasoning in the meat, but it was tasty. The sweet potato fries were a highlight- they were thin and crispy- and I'm always thrilled to see the sweet-fries option on a menu.

This, unfortunately, was the most memorable meal I had for almost two weeks during my stay in Vermont. However, my parents are in town now and that promises some great meals out to some Providence restaurants I've been waiting to try! La Laiterie and Gracie's are both on the list!

Kemoll's, St. Louis

For the most part, the food I indulged in during Andy and I's stay in St. Louis consisted of home cooking- cookies, turkeys, prime rib, french toast, cake...and of course a couple of stops at our all-time favorite St. Louis stops- Schlafly Bottleworks. 

But, we did manage to squeeze in a fantastic dinner at Kemoll's with Andy's parents. Kemoll's is a St. Louis tradition, and Andy's Dad has been going to the restaurant for years. Even better, from 5-6:30, most evenings, you can get a  three-course dinner with garlic cheese bread (unlimited!) for $19.95.

In addition to our three-courses, we ordered two appetizers. First, the Toasted Ravioli filled with meat sauce:

This was my first time having the popular St. Louis dish, which is essentially breaded and fried ravioli, and it is heavenly. The ravioli's aren't over-fried, and only have a thin coating of breadcrumbs to create a nice crunch. When you bite through the crust, the ravioli burst in your mouth and fill it with a hearty, traditional meat sauce. This is an appetizer worth trying to re-create at home, since it isn't found very many places outside of St. Louis.

The other must-have appetizer (according to Andy's family who swear they can't go to Kemoll's without ordering it) is the Carciofi Fritti, or fresh fried artichoke hearts:

These are so addicting! Once you dip a couple of these into the garlic mayonnaise and try a bite- you're hooked! I can understand why Andy's family consider this appetizer essential to have.

After this, came the dinner salad with garlic cheese bread:

The garlic cheese bread is almost as addicting as the Carciofi Fritti- especially when it comes out piping hot with the cheese still bubbling on the top.

Andy and I decided to split our entree, because we knew we wouldn't be able to finish one on our own. The grilled catch of the day was salmon and you can choose your sauce. We had the olive oil and oregano:

It was a beautiful presentation and a nice piece of fish- a nice, light compliment to all of the other indulgences of the night. It also left us with some room for the dessert:

We all really loved this chocolate cake because it was light, fluffy, and made with bittersweet chocolate so it wasn't too sweet. Even the frosting wasn't overpowered by sugar. It's amazing that we were all able to finish our entire slices, but it was worth it!

Kevin Rathbun Steak

We could only eat Thanksgiving leftovers for so long until my family and I were itching for a nice dinner out. My mom premeditated this dining-out itch and made reservations at Kevin Rathbun Steak. This steakhouse, in the only 5 or so months it has been open, has been bestowed with many accolades, including several mentions on "Best of" lists.

Our reservations were for a table in the "Cookbook Library", a candlelit room nestled in the wine cellar. I felt very romanced by Kevin Rathbun Steak in this room, and we all settled comfortably into the cushioned (but sleek) seats with a glass of a '95 Cabernet Sauvignon from my dad's own collection.

Because the steak is the feature of the restaurant, not many people in our party indulged in appetizers. I, however, was persuaded to order the oysters after the waiter assured me they were the best possible available, from Connecticut:

These were meaty, briny, fantastic oysters.

And now here is the steak:

My 6 oz. Filet Mignon with Black Truffle Butter


3 person, Dry-aged Porterhouse

The steak was tender and flavorful, but, most disappointingly, over-salted. I do not eat steak very often, and was really looking forward to a beautifully cooked filet (especially with black truffle butter!) but I didn't enjoy it as much as I had hoped due to the high salt content. My cousin, who also had the filet, felt the same. We both agreed that steak is generally salty, but this exceeded the usual limits.

My mom, Aunt, and Dad shared the porterhouse and ate everything but the bone (my mom thought it might be a little impolite to pick up the bone and suck on it in the middle on the restaurant)!

The sides were ordered a la carte, and we sampled a variety of them including the creamed spinach, oregano-garlic roasted potatoes, and the twice-baked potato. All of them were average, except for the jalapeno creamed corn:

The creamed corn was different, smoky, and spicy. It was the perfect compliment to the robust, salty steaks.

Even though I was romanced by Kevin Rathbun's renovations of what was once a Clorox factory, I was less romanced by the food. It may be that I am not as easily wooed by a simple steak as I am by a beautiful filet of fish, but none of my family members left wowed by this "best of" restaurant.

Schlafly Brewery

Last time I was in St. Louis, I wrote about some of my favorites from the city. One thing I didn't get around to writing about, however, is the Schlafly Brewery.

St. Louis is synonymous with Budweiser, which does the city a great disservice.  There are other breweries in St. Louis that focus their efforts on quality, not quantity, and are lesser known as beer making machines, and are instead popularly viewed as craftsmen. Tom Schlafly, the president of the St. Louis Brewing Company (another company name for Schlafly Beer) even wrote a book about the trials of building up a brewery in the same city as the "Goliath" Anheuser-Busch.

The Schlafly Beer company has two places in St. Louis where you can enjoy their beer. The Tap Room, and Bottleworks. Andy and I always find ourselves at Bottleworks, which is a production brewery that offers brewery tours and one of the only non-smoking environments in St. Louis.

My two favorite things about Bottleworks are the beer sampler:

And the Bison Nachos:

The beer sampler consists of five year-round brews: Pale Ale, Pilsner, Hefeweizen, Oatmeal Stout, and Wheat Ale and one seasonal brew. For this particular sampler the seasonal was the Winter ESB. They were all delicious, and I love having the chance to try all of them.

The Bison Nachos are a masterpiece built with yellow corn tortilla chips, ground bison meat, black beans, Monterey jack cheese, pico de gallo, guacamole, and sour cream. Schlafly takes something basic and makes it better with the use of bison meat. Bison is a great alternative to ground beef, and has incredible flavor- even though it is a very lean meat (it has less calories and cholesterol than both beef and chicken!). Schlafly also offers as much of their food from local farmers and businesses as possible, to help the country's efforts at sustainable living.

The Original Pancake House

Sorry for the brief absence! Andy and I took a trip to St. Louis for his dad's 50th birthday (don't worry, I have some food stories to share).

To finish up my experience in New Jersey, this is a post about one of the best breakfast places in the country, The Original Pancake House.  They have a great overview of the restaurants' history on the website, but I will offer a brief one here.

The Original Pancake House was founded in Portland, Oregon in 1953. The menu is a combination of the founders knowledge of international pancake recipes, and offers a deliciously unique breakfast experience. I grew up in Portland, Oregon, and the original The Original Pancake House is a feature in many of my best childhood memories. Granted, when I was younger, I remember being very restless during the two-hour waits and played endless games of hangman to help pass the time before I could drink a steaming cup of hot chocolate and munch on the powdered sugar heaven that is the Swedish Pancake. The James Beard Foundation even designated the Pancake House as a regional landmark restaurant!

When we left Portland, my whole family was distraught over the idea of leaving our favorite breakfast indulgences, and the warmth and friendliness of The Original Pancake House behind.

Eventually, the founders decided to franchise the name of The Original Pancake House and they started popping up all over the country. And one of those franchises happened to open up not far from the town we moved to in New Jersey! This was the location my parents, my friend Cailyn, Andy and I enjoyed at the end of our visit. It isn't quite the same as the Portland location, but the food is still just as good and maintains the strict level of quality set by the founders.

When I was younger, the Swedish Pancakes were the only thing I ever ordered. But as I got older, my tastes changed, and now I can't resist (and neither can my mom) ordering one of their most signature dishes, the Apple Pancake:

This is a huge, thick, puffed pancake topped with cinnamon and sugar slathered apples- all baked in the oven. It is an impressive pancake, that puts most breakfast-joint specialties to shame!

My dad's choice has always been the ham and cheese omelette, so Andy took his recommendation and ordered it as well:

This omelette is a monster made with, urban myth says, 5 eggs, a 1/2 pound of ham, and a 1/2 pound of cheese! And it comes with a side of three buttermilk pancakes smothered in syrup and butter. As my dad says, "is that a heart attack waiting to happen or what!? But the thing is, you'll die with a smile on your face". Truly, every once in awhile, the indulgence is well, well worth it.

Unfortunately, there is no The Original Pancake House in Rhode Island, but if you ever find yourself in a state with a location, make it a stop one morning!

Highschool Memories

For a brief period of time (of about three of my highschool years) I lived in Randolph, New Jersey. It is a small, small town of about 25,000 people in northern Jersey with little else but a diner, a strip mall, and a couple of Italian restaurants.

I don't have much "home pride" when it comes to Randolph, except for when it comes to pizza. My absolute favorite slice of pizza comes from the ovens of Pizza Palace:

Pizza Palace, when I was in highschool, was a constant haunt- for meeting up, before and after football games, on lazy Sundays, dates..."Palace" was always the no-fail place. We ordered up a slice or two and slipped into the seats and felt like maybe the highschool years were the best of our lives.

I will admit that, in reference to the aformentioned trip down memory lane, some of my love of Palace may be rooted in love of nostalgia. But, I still maintain that in the oft-unknown and strange community of Randolph, New Jersey you can find some pretty fantastic pizza.

The thickness of the crust is perfectly inbetween thin-crust and standard pizza crust, which is hard to find. Pizza crust is often either too thin, tough and/or crispy, or much too thick and doughy. Pizza palace always wins in the dough breadth category. The sauce is simple, and tastes mostly of zesty tomato paste then it does herbs, another plus in my pizza critique. And no pizza critique is complete without a comment on the cheese. When I am looking for a good, greasy, parlor-type pie, the volume and quality of the cheese is tantamount. Pizza Palace excels in this cheese inquiry as well. There is enough cheese to make the top of the pie oozy and a little heavy, but not too much that the crust is soggy, the slice sags, or that you almost choke on each bite because you can't possibly chew all the cheese. 

So, if you ever find yourself on the road in New Jersey, and you happen to pass a sign reading "Township of Randolph" make sure you stop in to Pizza Palace, grab a slice and relive some highschool glory days.

Pizza Palace
1161 Sussex Turnpike
Randolph, NJ
973-895-3344

O-H-I-O!

Lately, I seem to be unable to stay in one place for long. Not too long ago I was in California. Then a couple weeks later I found myself in Atlanta. And last weekend I was in Columbus, Ohio. And this weekend I was in New Jersey. But since I'm on some back-log here (there are just so many good food opportunities!) I am currently only caught up until Ohio.

I headed to Columbus to visit my cousin, Emily, who attends Ohio State. My whole family (grandma, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins) made a special weekend trip to go to a football game. My grandfather went to Ohio State, and so we went to celebrate his favorite team in his memory. But besides watching some great football (Ohio State won 24-17) we ate!

We had brunch at Hang Over Easy:

I had egg whites with cheddar cheese sprinkled on top, sausage, and hash browns! I love a place that has the option of hash browns, instead of just home fries. There is something about the grated, seasoned potatoes that really make a great brunch. This was a good, local spot and it got us all into the Buckeyes spirit.

After the exhilarating win we celebrated at another one of my cousin Emily's favorite spots, Lindey's. We luckily had a great, long table secluded in the back of the restaurant. We were a big group and my family loves to talk so we were very comfortable! We also ordered a ton of food, including a sampler platter of calamari,crab cakes, and chicken potstickers. I was pretty addicted to the calamari and the creamy remoulade and so I was very full when this arrived for me:

This was a huge piece of New York Strip Steak with mushroom and chive butter. I only managed a couple of bites both because I was very full and also because it was very, very salty. And, admittedly, I am a very big fan of salt and usually have a higher tolerance for sodium rich dishes than some people. But this was much too intense for me.

My mom had the Veal Saltimbocca:

Which she loved, but also commented on its saltiness. However, my Aunt had the scallops which she thought were too bland- and actually added salt to, so it seemed there were discrepancies in the seasonings.

We also had to try a sampling of desserts and opted for the Bananas Foster:

And the Warm Chocolate Cake:

The Bananas Foster was not good at all. The crepe tasted like a bland sheet of frozen puff pastry, and we couldn't taste the white chocolate or mascarpone cheese.

However, the warm chocolate cake was divine. It had a molten chocolate center that was piping hot and complimented the moist cake surrounding the more liquid middle.

The best part of the evening was certainly being with family, but I wish the restaurant had impressed me a little more. It was a very busy night, and we were one of the last parties (and a party of 12 at that) seated, but I don't think that should be an allowable excuse for a drop in the quality of food.